Tkwemíple7 Brandy Chelsea ( Jules)

Weytkp

Re Skwest ri7 Brandy Chelsea. Ri7 Tkwemiple7 ke ne Cstelen. Re qè7tse ri7 Ronnie Jules ell re kì7ce ri7 Iris Jules. Mut ke ne Secwepemculecw. Thank You to the previous Chief & Council for all the hard work in decision making to see through many of the projects that are still on going today. Building Community Pride always benefits our people when we can provide clean drinking water, shelter and food.

The current Chief & Council are almost a year into our term. We have worked as a team, are continually learning and helping one another with ongoing projects.

Learning Components:

•Communications may be challenging as we adapt to change ; understanding that we communicate differently.

•Upholding our Secwepemc Values; Dignity, Respect, Honesty, Secwepemc Traditions

Wellness:

•Walking Our Spirits Home provided an opportunity to bring love, light & healing to community including Residential School Survivors. We welcomed many nations to help bring home our children’s spirits. We appreciated the amount of support shownthrough walking, volunteering, songs, drumming. the Bear Dancers added to assisting in our spirits come alive.

•Calling Our Children Home ceremony held for all children who were or are still in foster care including our people taken during the 60s Scoop; we honored all children that attended the event. A moment of silence was observed to remember our people that did not make it home, we ended this ceremony with the medicine of laughter.

Stsmemelt

•We have monthly sessions with focusing on strategic priorities, revitalization Secwepemc law, capacity development and healing

• Funding secured for signatory implementation of the strategic plan

•Children in care remains a high priority with a focus on the root causes and in offering supports to families, changing one heart at a time Secwepemc Child & Family Services (SCFS)

•supports with prevention funding and Programs for families, assisting caregivers, we celebrate our children with ceremony

•SCFS Board of Directors and leaders met with the Ministry of Children and Family to advocate for children receiving programs & services

Infrastructure:

•The next phase of the water line will be system upgrade design

•Health Facility construction ongoing with tentative occupancy early Fall

•Housing plans continue with families moving into home

•Housing Policy updated and approved

•Telus wireless connectivity to enhance internet connectivity

Comprehensive Community Strategic Plan

•Updated Comprehensive Community Strategic Plan now draft form

Tekwtsilem

Secwepemc Flag Raised

I enacted my vision I had to help restore pride in our youth – by having raised our Secwepemc flag at the Salmon Arm Shaw Centre twin arena in March. I hope that our youth athletes and others will look up and see our Secwepemc flag and be proud to represent. This initiative can be duplicated in other areas to instill Secwepemc pride and to build reconciliation

Tkwemíple7 Joyce Kenoras-Xwexwna

Weyt-kp, We are going into 10 months in office now, I hold the pillars Finance and Administration, Natural Resources and Switsemalph Community leader. Council appointed myself as chair of our Finance and Audit committee. Our activities include the passing of the 2022-23 budget, FMS (Financial Management System), audit and any other considerations or changes in our budgets. We have changed auditors this year to BDO (Binder Dijker Otte) Canada, it is wise to change from time to time, as our last auditor retired, the timing seemed fit. Laura Bouchard from the Finance Management Board guides our steps under the Finance Administration Law (FAL). We are on track for the FMS Certification!” In keeping with my Oath of office, I declare a conflict of interest due to my connection to FNHA (First Nation Health Authority) and stepped away from the Health and Wellness pillar, an area that I hold keen interest due to the areas of wellness, safety, children, and families.

As finance lead on Council, my challenge is keeping ourselves on budget as well as ensuring we are following our Financial Administration Law. It is imperative that we hold our departments accountable to running the programs to meet the needs of the membership in a fair and transparent way.

As I have always said, it is our own source revenue (OSR) that I encourage us to use wisely, investing when we can and being mindful to “use other resources before our own.” It is imperative to invest our resources wisely and we are doing this within the financial plans, with established accounts for investment, always seeking best rates of return.

Within our Switsemalph community there is plans for new housing development and recent land clearing, maps will be available at the Nexe7ye’lst band office. I am hoping summer will bring more community engagement and activity with support from the existing Health & Wellness budgets to enhance services of Nursing, D&A counselling, social worker, Youth and Cultural worker for our Switsemalph members. We have seen high turnover of staff, impacting important and critical services in our Switsemalph community.

I have taken to heart the plea from community and families affected to address the Opioid crisis with so many recent losses of our young people. This is an initiative that is actioned with a triple prong approach, community, political, technical. I support the recent work of Cwelcwelt Kuc “We are Well” community of care committee wholeheartedly and call on community members to get involved, we need many to stand with us, guide us with collective efforts.